Megan Morgan's Blog, page 9

Happy Monday!

A bit of exciting news for me today. I just got the first round of edits for The Marrying Type, my upcoming novel from Evernight Publishing. In addition to some glowing comments from my editor, they’ve decided to make the book an Editor’s Pick when it comes out!

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Aaaah! It’s so exciting, and I’m rather humbled. I don’t have a cover yet, but I’m hoping soon I’ll be able to show it off and give you a publication date. I guess I better do those edits if I want to get things going, huh?

It’s a good Monday. How is your Monday going?

Be Lucky Today!

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Never Trust a Vampire by Vivian Lane

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Never Trust a Vampire
Strange Allies #1
by Vivian Lane
Genre: Urban Fantasy
166 pages



The people we save look at us like we’re superheroes, or guardian

angels, but we bleed.

We break.

And sometimes, we even die.
Becoming a paladin means sacrifice of self.

Saving innocents is always top priority, so when the vampire Adam asks for

Agent Seven’s services to rescue children from L.A.’s reigning

vampire, The Agency won’t let her refuse. Company motto is the only

good vampire is a dead one, so what makes this guy different from all

the rest? This feels like a trap.

Will Adam prove her wrong, or be her downfall?

This story is intended for readers over the age of 18 due to adult

situations.

Add to Goodreads
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The audience clapped for the orchestra starting to enter and I searched in the dim light for where the tingle down my spine came from.

There.In the back of the balcony.  It was too dark to make out features other than pale skin and a tall frame, but my Spidey sense didn’t lie.

Crap. Charlotte was taking her seat at the piano, too.  As soon as the audience went silent, the acoustics would carry any ruckus we made throughout the auditorium.I darted out of my row and up the aisle.  The entry walkway behind his row gave me clear access to sneak up behind him.  As the vamp sat down, I touched a fingertip to the skin above his collar.  He froze.  A puff of smoke started to rise from the contact.

“Outside. Now. Quietly,” I whispered, and walked out to the lobby.  Oh, please let him follow me.

The figure that walked out of the auditorium was unlike any vampire I’d dusted before, and that was a fair number.  He was quite simply gorgeous.  Dressed in casual business attire of gray and black, he looked like he’d walked out of a catalog.  Everything was perfect, from his symmetrical face to the Italian leather loafers on his feet.

“I hope you have a good reason for bringing me out here, miss. The pianist has started to play.”  He just had to have a nice voice, too.

“Really? You’re gonna play the inconvenienced music patron? We both know what you came for.”

A faint smile graced his lips.  “And what is that?”

I waited for a passing usher to get out of earshot, then said, “I know you’re a vampire, and from that burn mark on your neck, you know what I am, too. Let’s leave the nice innocents be and take this outside.”

He stepped a bit closer, hands at his sides.  Casual.  “You have me all wrong, paladin. I came for the music by recommendation of a friend, and that’s all. I’m Adam. And you are?”

“Not givin’ you my name. You really want me to believe you didn’t come for a snack.”

He shrugged.  “It’s the truth. Do you think I want blood on this shirt? It’s expensive.”

Okay, I didn’t have a comeback for that one.

Writer of supernatural badasses.

A proud geek *cough*nerd*cough* who likes fashion, interior design, and

sports, Vivian Lane is the author of the Children of Ossiria and

Strange Allies series. She lives in California with her cat Scrapper.
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Writing Love

I’ve decided from time to time on this blog, in addition to sharing, teaching, pulling my hair out, and bemoaning the hardships of writing, I’m also going to talk about the things I love. So, you’ll see me talk about those things I HEART about writing. When you stop by my blog and just want a little inspiration, hit up the I Heart Writing category!

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What I HEART About Writing…

Describing settings and scenery!

This is one of my favorite parts of writing: describing the surroundings my characters find themselves in. It’s a delicate balance. While you need to convey certain details to your reader, you also don’t want to write an entire page of mind-numbing description. Keep it simple, eloquent, short, and still manage to paint a scene–that’s the key. It can be difficult, but figuring it out is part of the process of creating art. Maybe that’s why I like it so much, because it’s a challenge to say enough but not too much.

It’s also important to remember when to use description. Usually, it’s only necessary when the surroundings are relevant to what your character is experiencing, or as part of the plot. It’s not a good idea to describe every room they walk into, or gives us the entire layout of the park they’re walking through when it has nothing to do with the story. I fully admit I often integrate cities and landscapes into stories, and make them important both to the character and the narrative, just so I can work on describing them. It’s literally one of my favorite things! Sometimes I do it well, or at least believe I do. Other times, it needs to be snipped in rewrites because it’s bulky and irrelevant.

One of the best inventions ever, in my opinion, is Google Street View. I can see places I’ve never been to, up close and personal, like I’m literally standing there. And that means I can describe them! I use it so often it’s practically one of my essential writing tools. It means I don’t have to restrict the settings of my stories, because if I need to clarify something I can just take a peek.

To brag a bit, my best friend told me one of the descriptions of Chicago from The Wicked City was the most accurate and stunning description of the city she’d ever read (we both love Chicago and visit often). In the book, it’s June’s first time ever in Chicago and she’s terrified of the city, and being trapped in it, for various reasons, thus it colors her view of it:

Chicago was a living metropolis, a brilliantly modern and majestically primeval creature breathing and teeming and issuing forth a steady cacophony of human noise. Under the stark winter light, the buildings loomed as monoliths, an overwhelming collection of glittering glass, gleaming steel, and earthy stone. At street level, the world was narrow and claustrophobic, life chugging along under the shadows of the great towers like thick blood pulsing through deep, dark veins.

It was beautiful and horrible at the same time. Like most great monsters.

I love writing descriptions! What do you HEART about writing right now?

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

Right now I’m doing a whole lot of revising/editing on a book I recently finished. Sometimes this is the best part of the process for me–the first draft is down, the story is told, and now I’m in the process of fixing it up and making it shine. It’s a time for clipping and adding and rearranging, and honestly, I like it a lot. Probably because in most aspects of my life I like to organize and sort things. This is the stage where I get to work on putting everything in order. It’s funny because when I initially started writing  years ago, I HATED doing edits and revision. I don’t know what led me to love it, but I’m glad I do now.

[image error]I’m finding, as I often do when I revise, that I have a bad habit of repeating myself. Thankfully, I can spot it and eliminate it as I edit, but I still get irritated at myself that I do this. To clarify: for some reason, as I write, I feel the need to keep bringing up the “point” of the story–whatever the main character’s struggle and main issue is, they keep circling back and focusing on it. I know this isn’t needed, because you really only need to say it once, and then reinforce it with the events as they unfold. Yet, I keep doing it!

I usually feel when I’m writing if I don’t occasionally remind the reader “x character feels y about this situation” that I’m either not giving the situation enough gravity, or the reader will forget. The funny part is when I revise I see these things sticking out as the unnecessary bells and whistles they are and quickly pluck them out. So why write them in the first place?! I could save myself so much time if I left them out to begin with!

I think the reasons I do this may be one of two, or a combination of both:

It’s part of the process of talking myself through the story. Even though it’s a lot of useless repeating, I’m mostly talking to myself and reminding myself of plot points when I do this. It helps me stay on the path. When I revise, I can take these markers out, but during the first draft they help me stay on course.
Anxiety. I feel if my character doesn’t think about the problem enough, then their journey isn’t going to seem realistic. I mean, when something big is happening to you, isn’t it all you can think about? Doesn’t it consume most of your life? If my characters don’t keep circling back to the problem, it’s not REAL.

Number one is useful, but I end up overwriting when I lean on it too much. Number two really isn’t true, because telling a story isn’t the same as living real life. The reader doesn’t need to be told every other page that the character is focused on the situation they’re dealing with, because we’re watching them deal with it. The fact it weighs heavy on their mind can be just as easily, and much less invasively, merely implied. In both cases, I need to trust myself–and the reader! I don’t need to beat anyone over the head with plot points.

Despite the fact I know and understand these things, I still catch it during revisions on every book I write. It’s almost like filler and it annoys me when I see it–even though when I was writing it, it seemed like the right thing to do. Going forward, I’m going to try to be more mindful while I’m writing. If I catch myself repeating, I’ll try to ask myself instead how I can remind the reader with actions instead. I give anyone who’s editing right now this piece of advice: look for what you constantly repeat, or draw attention to, and ask yourself why. Also pluck it out, even if it seems more “realistic” to keep bringing it up, because I assure you the story is already keeping these things in the reader’s mind.

Do you find yourself circling the same points when you go back and do your revisions? Have you managed to spot it while you’re writing and stop yourself?

Shadow World Trilogy by Brandy Nacole

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Shadow World Trilogy Boxed Set
by Brandy Nacole
Genre: Urban Fantasy
801 pages



I must dare to be different in a world where I’m unwelcome in order

to save the one person left in my life, my half-sister Addie.

This deluxe boxed set contains the complete Bestselling Shadow World

Trilogy (Uniquely Unwelcome, Blood Burdens, and Sacrifice: A New

Dawn).

Enjoy the thrill as power is pushed to its limit, hearts are broken, and

some pay the ultimate price as Racquel fights an ancient evil that is

determined to make the Earth bleed, and Racquel with it.


The box set includes:

Uniquely Unwelcome
The Shadow World Volume 1

Racquel is unique. The bloodlines of four of the most powerful beings in the

Shadow World are intertwined within her DNA. She has never craved

attention. She just wants to be able to live as normal life as she

can. But she’s about to find that even though she’s uniquely

unwelcome wherever she goes, her abilities also make her the best

chance the Shadow World has to stop a threat to all the Shadow races.

Once arriving home, Racquel finds that greater evils exist and that

the person she cares for most in this world, her half-sister Addie,

has been kidnapped along with other Shadow World beings. Racquel

finds herself facing horrible odds with those who would rather see

her dead than alive. As her journey continues, Racquel learns more

about herself, what she is capable of, and that not every being looks

at her as an abomination. Coy, a human captive that Racquel saves

from the Vampires, starts showing kindness toward her. Racquel tries

putting distance between her and the human boy but as they spend more

time together it becomes harder and harder for Racquel to fight the

affection she wants and needs. But will Coy’s friendship and her new

found discoveries be enough to help Racquel unravel the strangest

mystery that has ever plagued the Shadow World?


Blood Burdens
The Shadow World Trilogy Volume 2

As someone with four Shadow bloodlines, Racquel is uniquely unwelcome

even among her fellow werewolves, shape-shifters, vampires, and

witches. Growing up, she was bullied and tormented for being a

“hybrid,” a condition frowned upon by Shadow society. After

saving her sister and a number of other kidnapped Shadows from a

diabolical plot to create a Shadow army, many have found a new

respect for Racquel, but she is far from accepted in Shadow society,

and the evil is far from over. To complicate matters, Racquel now

finds herself torn between two brothers. Coy is caring and has helped

Racquel through her struggles, and Micah, who Racquel has only met

once but who is somehow, having dream conversations with him. Racquel

becomes torn between following her heart while breaking it at the

same time. In the second installment of the Shadow World series,

Racquel and her sister Addie face off with the Shadow leaders against

a threat that could bring the world to its knees. Power will be

pushed to its limit, hearts will be broken, and some will pay the

ultimate price as Racquel and her group of Shadows fight against an

ancient evil that is determined to make the earth bleed and Racquel

with it.


Sacrifice: A New Dawn
The Shadow World Trilogy Book 3

Racquel was once uniquely unwelcome, an outcast in both the human and Shadow

worlds. In desperation, the Shadows—the loose alliance of Vampires,

Werewolves, Witches, Shape Shifters and Faeries—turned to Racquel

for help against the sorceress Cerelia, who threatened all Shadows.

Now that Racquel has protected the Shadows by defeating Cerelia, it

seems like things are picking up. Racquel is ready to challenge the

Shadows’ Ruling Council on the injustice of the laws that made her

and her family outcasts among the Shadows, and which is causing

suffering among her friends. Racquel has little time to enjoy her

victory. Micah, an innocent subjected to experiments by Cerelia and

now the only other person in the world like Racquel, is summoned to

appear before the Ruling Council to be examined. The Council has

already warned that if Micah is deemed to be “unclean” and a

threat to the Shadows, he will be executed. And there are agendas

hidden in agendas, as well. A secret faction wants to challenge

Racquel, who they still see as being an unclean creature due to her

mixed-Shadow heritage. Worse still, the mysterious prophecy made by

Kaya, queen of the Fay, is about to become true, and Racquel is about

to be faced with her deepest fear: that she is still unwelcome in the

world. Betrayed trust and a new danger to the Shadow world are

waiting for Racquel, and in the end, she may have to make the

ultimate sacrifice in order to save the world and her friends from

destruction.


Goodreads * Amazon







Gemini Brandy Nacole is a writer of urban fantasy and paranormal books

published by Ponahakeola Press. A reader from a young age, Brandy has

always loved folklore and stories of beings that go bump in the night.

Whenever she’s not reading or writing, Brandy is spending time with her

family and friends, throwing around crazy ideas, teaching, and

singing like a rock star at a concert for no one else but herself.

She loves plants, but unfortunately is a killer of anything that

requires water but can’t voice (scream) their needs.

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Amazon * Goodreads



Follow the tour HERE

for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Time Flies

[image error]This post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group blog hop. The first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. The awesome co-hosts for the March 7 posting of the IWSG are Mary Aalgaard, Bish Denham, Jennifer Hawes, Diane Burton, and Gwen Gardner!

Happy March! I can’t believe it’s the third month of the year already. In my part of the world, spring is slowly approaching and I’m ready for it–no more snow! Of course, around here we still get snow in spring so it’s more like summer I’m waiting for and that’s a long way off. If the time keeps flying like it has been though, it’s going to get here faster than I expect.

Right now in my writing world, I’m playing the waiting game. Waiting for the first round of edits for my upcoming book, waiting to hear back on a submission to another publisher. Waiting to have the next book sorted out enough in my head that I can start writing it–and I think it’ll be soon, thankfully. I tend to fear I’m being lazy when I’m just “waiting,” even though that’s just the writer neurosis talking. The best way to fill up waiting time is by doing something, though. You’re far less likely to make yourself crazy if you’re busy–or so I hear!

Frantically checking your email every hour doesn’t seem to help much either. Anybody else more anxious than insecure this month?

March 7 question – How do you celebrate when you achieve a writing goal/ finish a story?

This is a great time for this question because I JUST finished writing a book. It still needs tons of revision and editing, but I finished the first draft. The funny thing is, every time I do this, I think bells and whistles should go off and someone should throw a party in my honor, but in reality I just heave a deep, satisfied sigh, save the document, save a backup, and then get on with the day. It’s so anticlimactic!

Of course it’s not really the end until you finish editing, and then if it gets accepted by a publisher it’s not the end once again until it actually comes out for sale. I feel like that should be a much more dramatic event in my life too, but it never is.

Speaking of that, March 3rd was the three year anniversary of my first book THE WICKED CITY being published! I can’t believe it’s been that long, and at the same time, I can’t believe it was only three years ago. Funny how that is, huh?

#ECAC19 Trailer

The first trailer for the East Coast Author’s Convention is here! Check out my name at roughly 1:21.

The Chindi Series by Brandy Nacole

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Deep in the Hollow
The Chindi Series Book 1
by Brandy Nacole
Genre: Paranormal Suspense
316 pages



Let me share some wisdom with you. There is evil in this world we cannot

see, not because it is hidden from us, but because our minds refuse

to accept its existence. But once we are able to get past what

everyone says should not be, it becomes our responsibility to stop

the evil we now see.

This insight wasn’t given to me until a year after I lost the most

important person in my life: Bryce Rowan. Now, after another death at

the same spot where he died—the overlook, where the mysterious

lights dance amongst the trees—I begin to wonder if they were

accidents after all.

Lucky for me, I’m not the only curious one in town. Cooper, a ghost

hunter (aka chaser), and his sister Jada have moved to town and are

starting to ask questions.

But the more we find out about this town and the people who live here,

people who I have known my whole life, the more I begin to think

there are those who would rather keep the evil secret, even if it

means we will never be safe, and that more will die.

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Prologue

July 11, 1972

Once again I’ve fallen prey to MaryAnn’s pleading, and I follow her out the window, my stomach churning with dread, a contrast to her excitement. I don’t know why I let her talk me into these things. She’s always getting us into trouble, has been since we were little. Yet, here I am, still following her after seven years of mistake after mistake. There’s something about her I can’t say no to. I’ve always thought of her as my sister, not my cousin, and considering we were born only two days apart, we are more like sisters—look like it too. But still, even sisters tell each other no every once in a while. Not me. This time though, I should have.

Our tiny flashlights give off little light in the dark forest, mine unsteady as it shakes in my hand. Thorns scrape at my skin and I look back, hoping to see a light in the cabin on and my grandfather coming out to see where us girls have run off to. No such luck. The small, two-bedroom cedar cabin is dark, its frame nothing but an outline against the trees around it.

“I think we should go back,” I whisper, my voice trembling.

“Will you quit whining, Ester? This is no different than walking through the woods during the daylight.”

I beg to differ. During the day, the green leaves look welcoming, not over-powering and creepy like now. I don’t feel trapped and afraid when walking these familiar woods when the sun is shining bright, but now I do.

“But, MaryAnn, grandpa said—”

“He was just trying to scare you,” she hisses, as she shines her light on a raccoon scavenging for food. It rushes off to hide from what he perceives as danger and we continue on through the thicket.

No matter what MaryAnn says, I know she’s wrong. I saw the fear in our grandfather’s eyes as he told us the story of the thing that haunts these woods. MaryAnn had been enthralled as she sat by the fire, her eyes bright, her body unmoving as she absorbed every word. I had been terrified. Our grandfather has never been a skeptical man, always saying rumors and legends are nonsense. “What you don’t see with your eyes, don’t witness with your mouth.” So to see the fear in his eyes as he witnessed the story he told us tonight is enough to convince me he was telling the truth, and not just some tale to scare his grandchildren.

An owl hoots overhead and a chill slowly creeps up my back, making me shiver.

“I think we should wait. I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

MaryAnn ignores my pleas, knowing I won’t go back alone.

The leaves rustle as a slight wind picks up. I can no longer see the outline of the cabin. I don’t know if it’s from my fear, but our lights seem to grow dimmer, making the darkness feel as if it is weighing down on us.

A small clearing comes into view, with timber laying hazardously along the ground.

“We are almost there,” MaryAnn whispers. “This is where grandpa and his workers have been logging close to the overlook.”

Good. Once we reach the overlook and she sees it is the same during the night as it is during the day, we can go back to the safety of the cabin. I can already feel the relief of being back under my blankets, eagerly waiting for morning, with the fresh smell of biscuits baking in the oven and bacon frying in the pan filling the air.

Whoosh.

“What was that?” I ask, panicked, and spin around in a circle, my flashlight shaking with more force.

“Ester, please stop this nonsense. I’m sure it was nothing.”

Once on the other side of the clearing, we start the mile hike up the incline and once again I wish we had stuck to the main road instead of taking the shorter path through the woods. The ground is slick from the rain we had yesterday, and with every step I take, I lose two as I slide back down.

MaryAnn grabs my hand, steadying me, as we both use our weight to climb the impossible hill.

Whoosh. 

“Did you hear that?” she asks, her voice a bit higher than before.

I close my eyes, my stomach tensing. She better not be playing any games with me. I will rat her out in a heartbeat if she is.

“Yes. What do you think it is?”

Before she can answer, a strange mist builds in front of us. I examine it closely and point it out to MaryAnn, but before it takes on a shape, it’s gone.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. 

A strong wind spins around us, and not caring about what MaryAnn thinks, I let go of her hand and tumble back down the hill, scared for my life. My feet are unsteady as the land levels out again and I fall over a log. Seconds later, MaryAnn lands on top of me.

“Come on!” she screams, terror in her voice. “We have to get back to the cabin.”

“What did you see?” I demand, as I race after her, dodging fallen limbs. But she doesn’t answer. She keeps running, looking back to make sure that I am close behind her.

A strong force comes from behind me and I’m shoved into MaryAnn’s back, making us both lose our footing.

Whoosh. 

Tears pour down my face as we scramble to our feet, our flashlights lost in the darkness. We try our hardest to run through the darkness with no light to guide our way. MaryAnn grabs my hand, our sweaty fingers clinging as tightly as they can while we try to make out where we are.

When MaryAnn screams, her body jerked away from me, I feel as if I can’t breathe. Something is trying to take her from me. My grip on her hand tightens, my small twelve year old frame pulling as hard as possible against whatever is trying to tug her away.

A movement behind her catches my eye as we struggle, but I can’t make out who or what it is. It’s shrouded in a black cloak, practically invisible under the blanket of night. I do make out the grey mist behind it, as if it’s drifting and waiting for its prey.

My heart thrums, feeling as if it’s trying to escape out of my chest, and my throat grows tight as I choke on my tears. MaryAnn screams, begging me not to let go of her, as our fingers begin to slip.

Why can no one hear us? We have to be close to the cabin.

​

A sharp pain explodes in the back of my head, and I pitch forward, disoriented. My legs slip out from beneath me, and I can feel myself losing consciousness. MaryAnn’s fingers slip out of mine as I land against the damp leaves on the ground. The last thing I hear is her pleading for me to save her.

Buried in the Bayou
The Chindi Series Book 2
280 pages



Our lifestyle, son, doesn’t have room for happily ever after.

I know this. My dad drilled it into my head so many times, I used to

chant it in my sleep. Then came Jo. She made it impossible to

remember the danger of teaching an outsider our secrets. After

helping her find peace, I left to keep her safe.

Jada and I hit the road to continue our family duty of slaying evil

spirits. With another closed case behind us, we head to the Louisiana

Bayou to solve a murder and find a missing hunter. But as we dig

through the town’s history, we begin to discover this is not a

simple haunting. A darker evil is feeding the spirits.

As the danger begins to mount, Jo appears in my life again. As much as I

want to be with Jo, I must do everything I can to keep her safe. I

have to push her away. Before it’s too late.

Goodreads * Amazon





Gemini Brandy Nacole is a writer of urban fantasy and paranormal books

published by Ponahakeola Press. A reader from a young age, Brandy has

always loved folklore and stories of beings that go bump in the night.

Whenever she’s not reading or writing, Brandy is spending time with her

family and friends, throwing around crazy ideas, teaching, and

singing like a rock star at a concert for no one else but herself.

She loves plants, but unfortunately is a killer of anything that

requires water but can’t voice (scream) their needs.

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Amazon * Goodreads



Follow the tour HERE

for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Prizes and Cheap Books!

This weekend is Tirgearr Publishing’s birthday, and they’re giving away prizes as well as having a HUGE book sale. Stop by their site and enter to win books and t-shirts. One Night in Cleveland is also 99 cents on Amazon during this sale!

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Just 99 cents on Amazon!

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